Ballast delivering mechanism



BALLAST DELIVERING MECHANI SM TTOIYNEYS March 5, 1968 M. J. sPENo BALLAST DELIVERING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 53 Filed Jan. l0, 1967 me, ,mw T O V5 W s E 4 4 n` ,J 8 3 n United States Patent tlice m 3,371,826 Patented Mar. 5, 1968 3,371,826 BALLAST DELIVERING MECHANISM Martin J. Speno, Syracuse, N.Y., assignor to Frank Spena Railroad Ballast Cleaning Co., Inc., Ithaca, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Jan. 10, 1967, Ser. No. 608,430

12 Claims. (Cl. 222-504) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE The invention is to a railway ballast discharge mechanism. A railway stone box car has an inclined side discharge chute with a hydraulically operated swinging gate, a power operated sliding chute continuing said discharge chute, and a power controlled baille plate at the end of the sliding chute.

The present invention relates to continuous railway working apparatus and, more particularly, to an improved ballast discharge mechanism for delivering stone ballast to the roadbed of a railway.

As is well known7 in the maintenance of railways it is important to periodically clean the ballast which forms the roadbed of the railway by bodily picking up the ballast along the shoulder adjacent the ends of the ties, vibrating the Aballast to release all foreign matter, and then returning the cleaned ballast to the shoulder. In the past, the return operation has been accomplished by providing a stone box for temporary storage of the ballast having a discharge chute with a discharge opening directed to the shoulder of the roadbed immediately adjacent the ends of the ties where the ballast cleaning operation is usually performed. Because of the requirement of a clearance of the ballast cleaning apparatus during the traveling mode to and from the work site, these discharge chutes have in the past been disposed substantially above the roadbed so that as the ballast is discharged from the opening it falls in an uncontrolled manner for a short distance before landing on the roadbed. This tends to cause undesirable scattering of the ballast causing an uneven distribution along the shoulder and also in some instances results in ballast being positioned on the top of the ties whereupon it must then be scraped oil in an additional operation.

Furthermore, in these prior art ballast discharge mechanisms, it is not possible to release the ballast at positions along the shoulder except at the usual position immediately adjacent the ends of the ties. As a result, when ballast along the outer limits of the shoulder is picked up and cleaned by the modern ballast cleaning machines with extensible scoops, the cleaned ballast must Abe discharged in the usual position adjacent the ends of the ties and then worked outwardly to the desired position. This, of course, requires additional ballast spreading mechanism and is thus more costly and generally undesirable.

Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide a railway ballast discharge mechanism which is capable of controllably laying the ballast on the shoulder.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a railway ballast discharge mechanism having a control chute which is capable of being extended to a work position immediately adjacent the roadbed to controllably lay the ballast in any selected position thereon and is capable of being retracted to a position for clearing the railway during the travel mode.

In accordance with the present invention, the inclined discharge chute of the stone box, which is or may be of conventional design, has attached on the underneath side thereof, an inclined control chute which is mounted for parallel sliding movement so as to be capable of being extended to deposit the ballast on the roadbed in a controlled manner. In effect, the control chute of the present invention forms an extension of the discharge chute to provide a guide path for the discharging ballast whereby the ballast advantageously does not assume a free falling attitude at any time.

The present invention further contemplates that the lower portion of the bottom plate of the sliding control chute includes a hinged extension portion for pivotal movement toward and away from the roadbed and shoe means is provided on this extension portion to variably guide the same whereby the discharging ballast is laid directly onto the shoulder in accordance with the longitudinal prole of the railway. The shoe means is adapted, in the usual case, to ride on the upper edge of the ends of the ties and the rear shoe is specially formed with a V-shaped prole to periodically jog the extension as the rear shoe moves over a tie to aid in insuring continuous discharge of the ballast. As the sliding bottom plate is retracted to the travel position, the guiding track engages the hinged extension so as to automatically place the same in a secure position in the same plane as the bottom plate of the controlling chute so as to provide the necessary traveling clearance for the apparatus.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a baille plate mounted for substantially vertical sliding movement to a position in opposed relationship to the control chute so as to form a restricted discharge path with said control chute. This, along with another feature of pivotally mounting the baille plate about a horizontal axis for swinging movement toward and away from said control chute, further insures the controlled discharge of the ballast in the desired manner since the control chute and the baille plate may be proportionally regulated with respect to each other to vary the size of the discharge path. With the incorporation of these control features, it is now possible to utilize the quick acting swinging gate for a cleaner cutof of the tlow of ballast from the main stone hopper While maintaining proportional control over the laying out of the ballast.

Thus, it is another more specific object of the present invention to provide an improved railway ballast discharge mechanism having a sliding control chute with a hinged extension along the lower portion thereof; guide means on the lower edge of the extension being capable of engagement with a portion of the railway so that the discharging ballast is deposited in accordance with the longitudinal prole of the railway sensed by said guide means.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a ballast discharge device of the type described having a cooperating sliding control chute and baille plate positionable in an extended mode to form a restricted discharge path for controllably laying ballast on the shoulder of a roadbed and in a retracted mode to provide travel clearance forthe apparatus.

lt is still another object of the present invention to provide a railway discharge mechanism of the type described wherein shoe means 'is provided on a hinged extension of a sliding control chute to guide said chute and to periodically jog the same to aid in continuously discharging the ballast onto the roadbed.

' It is still another object of the present invention to provide a railway ballast discharge mechanism utilizing a swinging gate for eillciently and rapidly effecting control of the flow of ballast from the main stone box and utilizing a sliding control chute and a swinging baille plate to receive the ballast upon opening of the discharge gate to controllably guide and lay the same onto the roadbed.

lt is still another object of the present invention to provide a discharge mechanism for controllably laying the ballast on the roadbed, which is easily adapted for use with a present day inclined discharge chute having a swinging gate.

Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description, wherein I have shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by me of carrying out my invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

In the drawings:

FIGURE l is an end view of a railway ballast discharge mechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side View of the discharge mechanism illustrated in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3--3 of FIGURE l; and

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view tak'en along line line 4%*4 of FIGURE l.

With reference now to FIGURE l and 2 of the drawings, there is illustrated a conventional stone hopper H which is supported in any suitable manner by a conventional railway car, of which only the bed 1f) and the side sill 11 have been shown for the purpose of disclosing the general environment of the present invention. As is conventional, this railway car is supported on rails R and ties T of the railway and in combination with other cars having the other operating stations thereon performs a continuous ballast cleaning operation on the shoulders S of the roadbed.

The hopper H is or may be of the type which is divided into a left-hand stone box L and a right-hand stone box R for storing two separate batches of ballast that has been cleaned in readiness for delivery to the opposite shoulders S of the railway. Attached to the lower end of the stone box R is an inclined discharge chute C through which stone ballast B is directed by gravity for discharge to right shoulder S. Since it is contemplated that the discharge mechanism of the invention is the same for both the left and right-hand stone boxes L, R, respectively, only the discharge mechanism for the righthand stone box R has been illustrated and will be described below.

Thus,` the discharge chute C includes an inclined or sloping bottom 12 and a contoured wall 13 in opposed relationship thereto; there being a discharge opening O formed in the lower end of said chute which is directed generally toward the right shoulder S in a conventional manner (note FIGURE 1). Through this discharge opening O cleaned stone ballast` B is adapted to be discharged to said shoulder S when a swinging gate 14 is positioned in the open position, illustrated in these figures. The gate 14 is supported by left and right-hand hinge plates 15, 15a, respectively, as best shown in FIG- URE 2, fixed to the sides of said discharge chute C and is adapted to move in an arcual path between the open position shown and a closed position in which it is operative to block the opening O. To operate the gate 14, there is provided a double acting hydraulic cylinder 16 carried by a mounting lug 17 on the side sill 11 with a piston rod 16a being attached to one side of the gate 14 by a suitable mounting plate 18 (note FIGURE l). The gate 14 is operative to move laterally across the discharge path of the ballast B so as to give a quick cut-off of the discharge of said ballast B so that the termination of delivery of the ballast to the shoulder S can be rapidily initiated and terminated as desired. However, as will be recognized, such an arrangement alone is not capable of giving control of the ballast B suflicient to cause said ballast B to be laid on the shoulder S in a controlled manner and according to the present invention this is accomplished by novel control mechanism now to be described.

Thus, for this purpose, there is provided in accordance with the present invention a control chute, generally designated by the reference numeral 20, and a baiie plate 21 which are mounted for sliding movement toward and away from the shoulder S as can best be seen in FIG- URE l. More particularly, the control chute 20 is mounted on the underneath side of the discharge chute C, in a manner to be described subsequently, and is operable by a double acting hydraulic cylinder 23 having piston rod 23a carried by the mounting lug 24 on the bottom 12 so as to move between the full line retracted position for traveling and a dotted line extended work position immediately adjacent the railway, as shown. Similarly, the baffle plate 21 is adapted to be moved between a full line work position shown and a retracted traveling position (not illustrated) by a hydraulic cylinder 25 having operating piston rod 25a; the cylinder 25 being suitable fixed by a mounting lug 26 to the hopper H. The favorable action gained by this arrangement when placed in the working position results from the controlled guiding of the ballast B along a predetermined discharge path; said ballast B sliding down the control chute 20 by gravity with the baiiie plate 21 serving to limit the outward extent along the shoulder S to which the ballast B is deposited, as will now be specifically explained.

The baiile plate 21 is carried for vertical sliding movement by a carrier frame, generally designated by the reference numeral 27 (FIGURE 2), to which the operating piston rod 25a of the hydraulic cylinder 25 is attached. More particularly, the carrier frame 27 includes two vertically extending slides 28, 28a, which are guided in the guideways 29, 29a, respectively, and a horizontal bar member 30, which interconnects the lower ends of said slides 28, 28a. Attached to the horizontal bar member are any number of hinges 31 to which, in turn, the batiie plate 21 is connected for limited pivotal movement toward and away from the control chute 20; the swinging movement toward the chute 20 being limited by engagement of the upper edge of the ballie plate 21 with the bar member 30 and the movement away being limited by a fixed stop 31a `(note limit positions of FIGURE l). Also connected to the horizontal cross bar 30 is a vertical leaf spring 32 which serves to bias the baffle plate 21 toward the control chute 20 (note FIGURE 1). Thus, it will be realized that when the bafiie plate 21 is positioned in the full line position of FIGURE l, it is operative to deflect the ballast B, which is being discharged from the discharge opening O of the gate 14, so as to cover a cross-sectional area delineated by the reference numeral X. If, however, it is desired to limit the laying out of the ballast B to cover only that area immediately adjacent the ends of the ties T, or as delineated by '1/2X in FIGURE l, then the `baffle plate 21 need only be lowered by the cylinder 25 to the dotted line position shown.

Proceeding now to consider the control chute 20 and its operation as contemplated in accordance with certain aspects of the present invention, the piston rod 23a of the hydraulic cylinder 23 is connected to an articulated sliding control plate, generally designated -by the reference numeral 35, by a downwardly extending ear 36, as best seen in FIGURE l (note also FIGURE 3). The control chute 20 includes an extension portion 37 of the sliding plate 35, which is hinged across substantially the full width of said plate 35 by a suitable piano-type hinge 38, as can best be seen in FIGURES 3 and 4. As is evident, the provision of the hinge 38 to provide the articulated sliding plate 35 allows the extension 37 and thus the control chute 2f) to assume the dotted line position of FIG- URE 1 upon actuation of the cylinder 23.

As can best be seen in FIGURE 3, the sliding plate 35 is carried at its outer edges by a pair of angle guide tracks 40, 41 which are suitably attached to the sides of the inclined discharge chute C; the lower leg of the angle tracks 40, 41 presenting an upwardly directed guide surface for these edges. To guide the sliding plate 35 in a lateral direction, there is provided a fabricated channel assembly 42 welded to the underneath side of the bottom plate 12 that cooperates with outwardly facing guide surfaces on angle members 43, 44, iixed to the sliding plate 35. Just inside the edges of the hinged extension portion 37 are a pair of longitudinally extending reinforcement bars 45, 46 (note FIGURES 3 and 4), which serve to appreciably strengthen the control chute 20. In addition, the bar members 45, 46 serve to mount upstanding side guides 47, 48 that serve as the lateral limits for the discharge path of the ballast B (note FIGURE l). As can be noted in FIGURE 4, when the sliding plate 35 is retracted by the cylinder 23, the angle tracks 40, 41 engage the hinged extension 37 along its edges so as to pivot the same in the counterclockwise direction about the hinge 38 (note FIGURE 1), thus effecting a raising of the control chute and a placement of said hinged extension 37 in the same plane as the remainder of the sliding plate 35.

For the purpose of guiding the control chute 20 along the railway in its extended work position, there is provided an elongated front guide ski, generally designated by the reference numeral 50, fixed to the lower edge of the extension portion 37 by the side guide 47 and having the front and outer sides thereof lianged in an upwardly directed manner so as to be capable of continuously sliding over the ends of the ties T. Similarly, at the rear of the control chute 20 on the side member 48 there is provided a jogger guide plate 51 which is formed with leading and trailing tapered faces so as to move up and over each of the ties T when the control chute 20 is moving along the railway in the working position. This action serves to controllably shift or jog the rear end portion of the control chute 20 to prevent ballast jam-ups to thereby maintain constant discharge of the ballast.

In operation of the apparatus of the present invention, it willbe clear that when it is desired to begin delivering the ballast B to the shoulder S, the hydraulic cylinder 23 is actuated so as to cause extension of the sliding plate 35 with the resulting deployment of the control chute 20 in the dotted line position of FIGURE 1. Simultaneously or at another suitable time, the hydraulic cylinder 25 is actuated to extend the bale plate 21 to the fullline work position also adjacent the shoulder S. At this point, the hydraulic cylinder 16 is actuated to open the gate 14 whereupon the ballast B is discharged through the opening O and onto the sliding plate 35. As the ballast B slides down onto the hinged extension 37 of the control chute 20, it is free to spread laterally out to the side guides 47, 48, and with the entire control chute 20 being supported by the ski 50 and the plate 51 onA the ends of the ties T, the ballast B is controllably laid on the shoulder S in accordance with the setting of the baffle plate 21, as described above. That is, the lballast B exists between the baffle plate 21 and the control chute 20 in a restricted discharge path thereby resulting in controllably laying the ballast on the shoulder S. When the discharging operation has been completed, it will be realized that only the gate 14 need be closed whereupon the bale plate 21 and the control chute 20 may be raised to their travel positions.

In accordance with the above, it will now be realized that there has been provided a discharge mechanism which is capable of controlling the discharge of ballast in an extremely efficient manner. Speccally, the ballast B is capable of being controllably laid on selected portions of shoulder S without being subject to being scattered, as in` prior art devices. Further, it will be realized that the apparatus is easily adapted for use on the present day stone hoppers having inclined discharge chutes and that the apparatus is capable of being easily retracted to a position underneath and along the side of the railway car to clear all obstructions that might be encountered during the travel to and from the working site.

In Ithis disclosure, there is shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, but, as aforementioned, it is to lbe understood that the invention is capable of various changes or modifications within the scope of the inventive concept as express-ed by the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A railway ballast discharge mechanism for use with a stone box having an inclined discharge chute opening above the railway comprising a swinging gate for cooperating with the discharge opening of said chute for controlling the flow of ballast from the stone box, first hydraulic cylinder means for operating said gate to effect a release of the ballast as desired, an inclined control chute mounted for sliding movement with respect to said discharge chute for receiving the ballast from the discharge opening when extended to the Work position and for clearing the railway when retracted to the travel position, the discharge end of said control chute being positioned immediately adjacent the roadbed of said railway in said work position to controllably lay the ballast thereon, second hydraulic cylinder means f'or effecting said sliding movement of said control chute, and a baffle plate mounted for substantially vertical sliding movement in opposed relationship to said control chute for forming a restricted discharge path for said ballast with said control chute when extended to the work position and for clearing the railway when retracted to the travel position, the lower operative edge of said baffle plate being positioned immediately adjacent to the roadbed in said work position to aid said control chute in controllably laying said ballast, and third hydraulic cylinder means for effect-` ing said sliding movement of said baffle plate.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said discharge chute comprises a fixed bottom plate and upstanding sides and said control chute comprises a sliding plate and perpendicular side guides, track means on the underneath side of said discharge chute for supporting said sliding plate and side guides substantially parallel to said bottom plate and said upstanding sides, respectively, said sliding plate includes a hinged extension along the lower portion thereof for pivotal movement toward and away from the roadbed, and means to variably guide said extension along the roadbed whereby the discharging ballast is laid on said shoulder in accordance with the longitudinal profile of the railway.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said track means includes a pair of upwardly facing guide surfaces extending underneath the outer edges of said iixed bottom plate and parallel thereto, a pair of inwardly facing guide surfaces underneath the central portion of said xed plate and perpendicular thereto, and wherein is provided first and second pairs of guide faces on said sliding plate in opposed cooperative relationship with said upwardly facing guide surfaces and said inwardly facing guide surfaces, respectively, whereby said control chute is positively supported against gravity along the outer edges thereof and against later movement with respect to said discharge chute along said central portion thereof by said guide surfaces.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said upwardly facing guide surfaces are positioned so as to engage said extension when said control chute is retracted to the travel position for placing said extension in the plane of said sliding plate.

5. The combination of claim 2 wherein said guide means includes shoe means carried by the underneath side of said extension adjacent the lower edlge thereof so as to engage a portion of said railway.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said shoe means includes an elongated front guide ski having upwardly directed flanges on the front and outer sides thereof to span the irregularities of said railway and a rear jogger guide plate comprising a V-shaped plate having tapered faces to periodically shift the rear end portion of said ex- 7 tension in accordance -With the irregularities of said railway to aid in discharging said ballast.

7. The combination of claim 2 wherein said baffle plate is pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis for swinging movement toward and away from said control chute t control the size of said discharge path.

8. A railway ballast discharge mechanism for use with a stone box having an inclined discharge chute opening above the railway comprising a gate for cooperating with the discharge opening of said chute for controlling the ow of ballast from the stone box, first power means for operating said gate to effect a release of the ballast as desired, an inclined control Chute mounted for sliding movement with respect to said discharge chute for receiving the ballast from the discharge opening when extended to the work position and for clearing the railway when retracted to the travel position, the discharge end of said control chute being positioned immediately adjacent the roadbed of said railway in said work position to controllably lay the ballast thereon, said control chute comprising a sliding bottom plate extending along the underneath side of said discharge chute, and second power means for eecting such sliding movement of said control chute.

9. The combination of claim 8 wherein said control chute includes side guides perpendicular to said sliding bottom and tixed thereto for movement therewith.

10. The combination -of claim 8 wherein said sliding bottom plate includes a hinged extension along the lower portion thereof for pivotal movement toward and away from the roadbed and shoe means for engaging said railway to variably guide said extension along the roadbed whereby the discharging ballast is laid on said shoulder in accordance with the longitudinal profile of the railway.

11. The combination of claim 10 wherein said shoe means includes an elongated front guide ski having upwardly directed anges on the front and outer sides thereof to span the irregularities of said railway and a rear jogger guide plate comprising a V-shaped plate having tapered faces to periodically shift the rear end portion ot said extension in accordance with the irregularities of said railway to aid in discharging said ballast.

12. The combination of claim 8 wherein said sliding bottom plate includes a hinged extension along the lower portion thereof for pivotal movement toward and away from the roadbed, shoe means for engaging said railway to variably guide said extension along the roadbed whereby the discharging ballast is laid on said shoulder in accordance With the longitudinal profile of the railway, said control chute includes side guides perpendicular to said extension, and a bar member extending along each longitudinal edge of said extension for reinforcing the same, said side guides being `mounted on the respective bar member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,299,702 10/1942 Mosel 222-176 X 2,659,346 1l/1953 Papparazzo et al. 222-176X ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

HADD S. LANE, Assistant Examiner. 

